Conviction
by jerica128
Summary: <html><head></head>Mikey is acting weird and the turtles try to figure out why. But, is it just a random change of character or is something far more sinister at work? - Written version of my fan comic</html>
1. Chapter 1

If the name seems familiar, then y'all probably recognize this from my comic found on DA. I had planned for quite  
>some time to get this into words and here it be!<p>

Enjoy ;)

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

The lair was dark but with the sounds of dragons growling, orcs yelling and the undeniable sound of Raphael's cursing echoing throughout the brick halls, it was far from quiet. Leo had finished his solo practice training in the weapons room and, as curiosity usually does for a sixteen year old, he came out to see what all the ruckus was about.

"You know, if you use the fire arrows on the ice dragon…"

Raph cut his little brother off short, "Shut-up Mike I got this," his voice was harsh, but Leo could hear the tale-tale tone of sarcasm that Raph always had when he wasn't serious.

As he predicted, Raph and Mikey were sitting on the couch, video games blaring. Apart from the quips from Mikey every now and then, it seemed like Raph was the only one playing, which was incredibly odd. Mikey was "king of video games" and _always_ had to be playing if someone else was regardless of the game. But, as he predicted, when Leo got closer, he noticed that the only turtle with a controller in his hands was Raph. Mikey was lounging on an armrest like he was watching one of Master Splinter's soap operas, bored and barely interested.

"Now this is something you don't see every day," Leo said to himself.

Leo meandered over and plopped down on the back of the couch, "So Raph, you finally win a bet and get dibs?" he asked.

Raph's eyes were focused hard on the game, arms out in front of him as if moving them around would help his dying effort, "Nope…crap…Mike just said…nonono…he didn't feel like…gah…playin'."

"Really?" Leo turned to the youngest, confused.

Mikey didn't react much, "Like he said, I didn't feel like playin' right now. Is that a crime?"

"In your case? Possibly. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Nah, I'm cool," he gave an almost real smile, Leo took note, "Besides, can't let Raph watch all the time, it's bad for his ego."

Though concern ebbed at his mind, Leo couldn't help but give a laugh, "Yeah, guess you're right."

"Oh, hardy har har very funny," Raph glared at them, the GAME OVER screen flashing in front of them.

As if on cue, motion sensors in the tunnels started going off. _Motion detected, Brooklyn Tunnel 6, identity confirmed, turtle Donatello. _

"Well look who finally got here," Raph said.

The false wall from the garage tunnel, or as Donatello called it "Brooklyn Tunnel 6", opened with a creak and the oh-so-common scent of bread and cheese.

"Hey guys," Donnie said with a quick wave from under four boxes of pizza, "Guess what I picked up from Geno's?"

"Hey Don," Leo said.

"Sup Donnie," Raph waved, "See ya been out driven' that new gizmo o' yours since it ain't delivery."

"No it's Digorno," Don said with a roll of his eyes, "I can't just let it sit around all day. Besides, I had to try out that new exhaust system I put in."

He walked up to the coffee table and set the pizzas down, taking a spot on one the pillows they had piled around it.

"I got two supremes and two meat lovers. And I went by Chin's for Master Splinter."

Raph instantly started opening boxes with greedy fingers, "Sweet, where's the meat lovers?"

Like Leo before him, Donnie took notice of Mikey's lack of interest in the pies, "Hey Mikey? Noticed you haven't jumped on these like a rabid hyena yet. You sick or something?"

Mikey just shrugged, "Not real hungry right now."

His brothers froze. Both Don and Leo's mouths dropped open and Raph nearly choked on his full mouth of pizza. Mikey just raised an eyebrow and ducked his head slightly.

"What?" he said, "Can't a guy not be hungry once in a while? Ya'll look like I just caught on fire."

If Leo wasn't worried before, he was more that worried now. Something wasn't right with Mikey and he could sense the same confusion coming from Don and Raph. He started speaking, but Raph was the first to come out of the moment of shock in pure Raph fashion.

He jammed his finger in Mikey's face, "Okay, now yer scarin' me!"

It seemed like Mikey was about to respond when their sensei's voice echoed behind them.

"Good evening my sons. I heard something about Chin's so I came out to see," he said, warm smile spread across his face.

"Sensei," they responded in unison.

They let him sit and begin eating, but it wasn't long before Splinter saw through the awkward silence.

"All of you seem distracted and uneasy in some way. Is everything alright?" he said, giving each a slow but authoritarian glance over his chopsticks full of noodles.

Raph was the first to chime in, "Mike's the one who's actin' funny. First he didn't wanna play his video games and now he don't want any pizza!"

Leo passed a glance over at Mikey. His brother's glare could have broken glass.

"Is this true Michelangelo?" Splinter asked.

Mikey leaned on his elbow with a curt snort, "Yeah. But I don't see what the big deal's about. It's not like I did anything wrong. They're actin' like I've gone completely crazy or sumthin'!"

Leo walked around the couch and took the spot across from Don. In as calm a voice as he could, he finally opened up about what, he assumed, was on everyone's mind, "It's not that we think you've gone crazy. It's just that you're not acting like your usual self."

"So…" Mikey's fists tightened as nerves were being hit.

Leo gambled, "Well…ever since our last run-in with The Foot, you've been becoming more distant, and it's starting to really worry…"

"WILL ALL OF YOU JUST DROP IT!" Mikey jumped up, screaming at them with an unnatural ice in his voice, "THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME SO GET OFF MY SHELL ABOUT IT!"

"I'm goin' to bed. Alla you guys are givin' me a mondo headache," With his family still shocked from his sudden outburst, he turned and stomped to his room, door slamming behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

Some of the grammar sucks I know, but hey, what can I say.

Anyway, please R&R and enjoy...

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><p>Conviction Chapter 2<p>

"Yup…he's gone nuts…he's actin' like me," Raph said.

"No Raph, something is really wrong with him," Don said. His scientific brain was going through several theories behind Mikey's strange behavior and unnatural outburst, but, as emotions were never his strongpoint, he couldn't come to any viable solution besides really wanting his computer. The next best thing besides looking up psychology on Google?…Master Splinter. "What do you think Sensei?" he asked.

Splinter already seemed to be on the same train of thought as Donnie was. He was deep in concentration, claws pulling hard at his chin hairs, "I to have noticed a change in Michelangelo over these last few days. There is clearly something troubling him, though as of yet, the reason still eludes me." He turned to the blue clad turtle that now sat beside him, "Leonardo, was there anything out of the ordinary that occurred during your last encounter with The Foot which could have caused such a dramatic change in Michelangelo's personality?"

Leo shrugged and shook his head, "No, nothing big happened honestly. We never even had to fight."

"Heh, lucky for them," right on cue Raph, "They were bein' their old Footy selves and Leo over here decides to just follow 'em!"

Splinter gave Raph a silencing glare then turned back to Leo, "Continue Leonardo, without any further interruptions I hope." Raph shrunk down in his seat like the scolded child he was, even with a matching pout which Donnie found quite entertaining. He made sure not to laugh though, now was not the time to laugh. Instead, he focused back on Leo. Maybe there was some little factor he had missed that night that could help him discern what happened to Mikey.

With everyone now quiet and attentive, Leo continued with the details of their night two days ago, "Well, we were coming home from April and Casey's when we noticed a group of Foot heading towards downtown…"

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><p>"Ya know…April and Cas have a pretty cool pad," Mikey said with his huge smile as they crossed the rooftops, "Why can't we visit more often?"<p>

Raph growled in front of him, "Cuz we gotta give their ears some rest once in a while Mike! Ya 'bout talked 'em off in there!"

Mikey egged him on, "Well sorry my mad videogame skills are too much for ya…"

It worked like a charm, "Oh I'll show you mad!" Raph yelled with a smirk, turning on his heel with a well-placed fist aimed at Mikey's face.

Just before the almost hit and obvious dodge, Don stopped them still, "Guys…we got company," he said, pointing at a building across the street.

Leo had just landed on the building across the ally but quickly turned around and flipped back, "What is it Donnie?" he asked as he ran up beside the purple clad turtle.

Donnie crouched down with a smile, "Oh, just a couple of your friendly neighborhood Foot Ninja out for a Saturday night stroll to grandma's."

Raph smirked, sais out and ready, "Perfect! I was needin' to catch up on my quota."

Leo waved him back with authority, "No Raph, we don't need to start anything right now. First, we need to find out where they're heading and then decide if we should intervene or not. If there is no threat, there is no fight."

"Well then what'r we standin' around here for?" Raph said as put away his sais and leapt off the three story building, leaving an annoyed Leo, an amused Don, and an excited Mikey on the rooftop.

"Ya know, the dude's got a point," Mikey said quickly. "Besides…you've been sayin' I needed to burn off some energy!"

"Mikey, don't you d…" Leo didn't get another word out before Mikey was off the roof and sliding down a drain pipe like a fireman's pole.

"Now's as good a time as any!" He yelled back, "Smell you cats later!" And with that, he disappeared around a corner.

Leo rolled his eyes and stared at the sky, "Why me?" he said to himself. No matter how hard he tried, those two would always be the ones to not see the necessity behind strategy. Lucky for him, at least he wasn't alone in his frustration.

"Well, guess since the Mikey go-go button's been pushed we should probably get going," Don's voice hinted at his annoyance but his smile was relaxed.

"Yeah," Leo sighed, "no stopping them now."

Don jumped off the roof, "Better hurry before we lose them completely. You know Raph. He won't wait for anybody."

"Right behind you Donnie…"

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><p>"Like we thought," Leo continued, "Raph and Mikey had gained considerable ground on us. It was at least ten minutes before we caught back up with them. They had lost track of The Foot and Mikey really wanted to go home, so we decided to head back since it was late. Apart from being quiet, Mikey was fine. I…just assumed he was tired."<p>

Donnie could see the confusion on Leo's face and honestly felt it to. Running around for ten minutes was tiring, even for Mikey, but it was in no way a reason behind what happened to him. As per protocol, he knew Raph's side of the story would be coming up, however, he wasn't quite prepared for how his brother started his side of the story off.

Raph hunched over in his seat, his face looked like a puppy that had just been caught chewing up a hundred dollar pair of shoes, "Uh…Leo…did I ever tell ya that I…uh…lost Mike for a little while after we ran off?"


End file.
